“You’re alright,” Breaker whispered, gently taking her hand. “Come on. We didn’t come this far to stop now.” The succubus met his steady gaze and gave a slight nod. The demigod led her into the cell, just a few steps so they stood in the light spilling from the hallway. Breaker’s keen gaze penetrated the thicker shadows along the chamber’s far wall.

A slender succubus stood chained against the solid concrete, her hands outspread and her legs separated. She wore only a wispy grey shapeless robe that fell short of her knees. She had Leila’s long golden-white hair, and similar blue-purplish eyes, but some lines of maturity showed on her strikingly beautiful visage. Her cheeks look hollow, and Josh suspected that beneath the robe, she was wasted away with hunger.

“Who’s there?” She whispered hoarsely, squinting against the light. “I’m blinded every time the door opens, but you’re not a guard or Ranja, otherwise you’d be throwing insults or drinks or worse. Who is it?”

Josh waited, but Leila seemed at a loss for words. They moved forward in slowed lockstep.

“Who is it?” Simone, Leila’s mother demanded. She sniffed the air. “Succubae,” she said, “I could almost swear. What trickery is this?” She blinked as her eyes adjusted. “It can’t be… Leila my girl, is that you?”

“It is me, mother.” Leila said, finding her voice at last. Tears shone in her eyes as she rushed forward and hugged her mother’s slender form. Josh moved in her wake. He grasped the iron cuffs securing Simone’s arms and a legs and pried them open, one at a time, as easily as a farmhand snapping kindling. The older succubus hugged her daughter as she stumbled free. The two clung to one another, wavering, and Breaker placed a hand on Leila’s back to support her.

“We must go,” he said gently.

“Where?” Simone asked, not letting go of her daughter.

“Away from here.” Breaker said. “Away from Haidia, by any means necessary.”

“You are the Breaker of Corone,” Simone said, reaching out a hand to touch the Y-shaped scars on his face. “The Granite Phantom of Fallien. I have heard of you.” She added as an afterthought. She took a deep breath and adopted a stern look. “Are you the one who has put a baby in my daughter’s belly?”

“Yes,” Josh said, “but that isn’t important now-”

“Not to me, perhaps.” Simone interrupted, “but to you, and to Leila, I should think so. Your mission here in the land of demons is far from over, Breaker. My daughter’s soul is still divided. If you do not reunite it as one, your child will be stillborn. And the shards of her soul are hidden here, in the royal palace.”

Suddenly footsteps echoed in the hallway, and a red-faced demon stormed into the cell flanked by two muscular guards. Josh did not recognize him, but Simone supplied the answer to his question before he could ask.

“Ranja!” she hissed venomously.